Summer 2020 - Issue 3
USDA California Climate Hub
News & Notes
California Wildfires: Climate Change and Development in the Wildland-Urban Interface
Embers blow off a burned tree after the LNU Lightning Complex Fire burned through the area on August 18, 2020 in Napa, California. Image from Scientific American. Credit: Justin Sullivan Getty Images.

California’s 2020 wildfire season is off to a severe and damaging start; the recent outbreak of over 300 wildfires was largely sparked by thousands of lightning strikes delivered by a rare and dry summer storm. Although these fires are not solely the result of climate change, they raise questions on the interplay between climate change and the frequency, severity, and intensity of the state’s fire activity. In recent decades, California has seen more rain and less snow in the winter, and drier autumn and spring seasons that have lengthened the dry season. Combined with warmer summers the extreme conditions of heatwaves, these conditions reduce soil and vegetation moisture, making conditions prime for wildfire ignition and rapid spread. Looking to the future, we can expect these climate trends of warming and more frequent, intense, and longer lasting heatwaves to continue, along with greater year-to-year variability in precipitation. In wet years, this may mean abundant vegetation growth that can provide ample fuel for future wildfires, while in dry years drought-stressed vegetation can provide a tinderbox.

Although climate change may make fire-friendly conditions more likely, it is the loss of life and property that get these fires a spotlight on the national evening news. California's wildlands are ecologically adapted to -- and dependent upon -- fire and are, in a sense, naturally meant to burn. Despite the inherent risks, more than 11 million Californians live in or at the edges of these wild areas, and development at the wildland-urban interface (WUI) can influence fire behavior, which is not well-captured by fire models. Looking to the future, not only may climate change increase the risk of wildfire, but estimates of land development indicate that further expansion into the WUI will put hundreds of thousands more homes at risk over the coming decades as exurban development occurs in areas currently classed as "'very high' wildfire severity zones."

Given the complex dynamics of wildfire in California, management can be one key to mitigating the impacts of wildfire. Forest landowners and forest managers can help to curb fire damages broadly through fuels management (e.g. prescribed burns and understory thinning), and those living in the wildland-urban interface can ensure clear, defensible space around their homes, and help ensure that their communities are “fire-adapted.”

Visit our website for a list of sources for up to date wildfire and air quality information, as well as preparation and recovery resources. For more information on the relationships between climate and fire, check out this article from Yale Climate Connections and the California Fire Science Consortium’s synthesis of drought and fire in CA.  
USDA Releases Report on
Climate Indicators for Agriculture

The USDA Climate Change Program Office has released a new technical bulletin highlighting some of the Climate Indicators for Agriculture that producers and technical assistance providers can look to to identify the relationships between climate trends and agricultural outcomes. These indicators can also help in the evaluation of risks posed by climate change for specific production systems. Check out the Climate Indicators document for more information.
Welcoming new Assistant Specialist Jennifer Smith

The California Climate Hub is pleased to announce a new addition to our team. Jennifer Smith joined us in early August as an Assistant Specialist in Forestry and Climate Coordination and Communication.

Jennifer previously held positions as an ecology research assistant with the Idaho Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit in Moscow, Idaho, and most recently as a program manager with the Consortium for Energy Efficiency in Boston, Massachusetts.
During her time with the Consortium, she managed large committees of diverse stakeholders, supported research projects, and facilitated working groups. She will be bringing her skills and experience to her Hub position where she will serve as the program manager for the State of California Forest Management Task Forces’ Science Advisory Panel. In this role, Jennifer will work with stakeholders and researchers to enhance decision making capacity for forest management implementation; identify critical information, resource gaps, and research needs; and design and develop science-based translational products and support tools to meet the needs of California's forestlands stakeholders. Jennifer holds a B.S. from Humboldt State University and an M.S. from Michigan State University. Welcome, Jennifer!
In Every Issue...
Climate, Drought, and Fire Outlooks
For more information on the climate, drought, soil moisture, or fire outlooks, click on the images below.
Across the West, warmer than average temperatures are expected through September.
Normal precipitation conditions expected for September for most of the state, with dry conditions expected in the north.
Drought conditions have expanded southward over the summer months.
Drought is expected to linger through summer and into fall in NorCal.
Normal autumn soil moisture conditions are expected across the state.
For more on the fire outlook for Northern California, click here.

For more on the fire outlook for Southern California, click here.
In the News
Events

September 28th CA-NV DEWS Drought and Climate Outlook Webinar at 11am PDT. Register here.

September 28th The Northern Institute of Applied Climate Science and USDA Northern Forests Climate Hub are offering the Adaptation Planning and Practices training as a 7-week online course for forest and natural resource managers.

October 20-22 NOAA's 45th Climate Diagnostics and Predictions (Virtual) Workshop
Opportunities

The National Interagency Fire Center and the Joint Fire Sciences Program announce funding for their Wildland Fire Research & Studies Program.
Proposals due September 30

Western Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education Professional Development Program and Research to Grass Roots Program grants are currently open.
Proposals due in November
Get Involved!
We encourage you to be in touch if we can be of service or assistance. Contact Hub Director Steve Ostoja and check out the California Climate Hub website for more information.

Have something you'd like us to share with our newsletter recipients? Know of a colleague who should be a part of our Spotlight series? Please let us know! Contact Hub Postdoctoral Fellow Lauren Parker.
The USDA California Climate Hub within the Agricultural Research Service at the UC Davis John Muir Institute works with partners across federal and state agencies, universities, and industry to help enable climate-informed decision making and advance the adaptive capacity for California's working and managed agricultural, range, and forest lands. Through these newsletters we share news and information of relevance and interest to our stakeholders.